Fire-escape



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1..

D. S. THOMAS.

FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 314,628. Patented Mar. 31, 1885.

(Nd Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. S. THOMAS.

FIRE ESGABE. No. 314,628 Patented Mar. 31, 1885.

- mines-5E5- d --..E1Uenf;7r:

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

D. S. THOMAS.

FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Mar. 31, 1885 inrrnn 'rA ns" ATENT anion.

DAvID' SHELDON THOMAS, or NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.

FlRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,628, dated March31, 1385.

Application filed February 3, 1883. Renewed March 3, 1885.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID S. THOMAS, of North Platte, in the county ofLincoln and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the inven tion, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and useit, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in fire-escapes, and is intendedespecially as an improvement upon the patent granted to me July 5, 1881,No. 243,994; and it consists, first, in the combination of the reel, theladder,which is made tapering in width, the elevating-wheels,which catchover the rounds of the ladder, the toothed wheels and sleeves forconnecting them with the elevator-wheels, the shaft provided with rightand left threads, and the operatingpinions; second, the combination ofthe reel, the ladder, the chain which supports the ladder, two wheelsprovided with pawls and ratchets, and the ropes which extend therefrom,as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention complete. Fig. 2 is a planview of the same. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 are detail viewsof the same.

A represents the frame or carriage, which is supported upon twotrucks,which are made independentof each other so that the front one canbe turned at right angles at any time, for the purpose of bracing themachine in position. In order to lift the frame in case the machineshould be standing upon uneven ground, the frame is pivoted or otherwiseloosely attached upon the axles, and the screw rod or shaft B is thenpassed down through a rolling nut on one side of the frame and swiveledat its lower end to a suitable collar or other device which is securedto'the rear axle. By turning this screw-shaft the frame will be raisedor lowered upon this side, at the will of the operator, until aperfectly level position is obtained. For the purpose of allowing thisframe to thus rock upon the axles the tops of the axles are recessed, asshown. This screwrod holds the frame rigidly in any position in (Nomodel.)

which it may be adjusted,'and thus prevents any tilting or turning ofthe frame upon its pivots. The reel around which the ladder is wrappedhas the spirals formed upon its ends, and is operated in the same manneras shown and described in my former patent. The ladder is also made insections and made to wrap around the reel, and instead of having theladder the same width from one end to the other it is made wider at itslower end and to taper regularly towardits upper one. In order toprevent the ladder from being wrapped upon the reel in such a manner asto form a great thickness and thus take up unnecessary room, the end ofthe ladder that is secured to the reel is let in the thickness of one ofthe sections, and then as the ladder is wound upon the reel the sectionswrap one within the other, as shown in Fig. 2, and do not occupy as muchroom as they would do if the ladder were made of the same width all theway along. Each section of the ladder has a V-shaped notch, D, formed inone end, and a cone sponding projection, E, formed upon its other end,and when these ends come together as the ladder israised into positionthe projections fit into the \l-shaped notch, and thus act as braces tostrengthen and bind the different parts of the ladder securely together.

rapped around the reel with the ladder, as described in my formerpatent, is the chain F, which supports the ladder in position as it israised upward. This chain F passes up over the top of the grooved lastpulley, G, down under the pulley H, which is used to take up all slackin the chain, and. then forward under the guiding-pulley I upon thefront end of the pivoted support, extends upward and has connected toits other end the connecting cords, wires, or chains K, by means ofwhich the upper end of the chain can be readily connected to anddisconnected from the ladder, so as'to let out the chain so that it canall be let down or all wound up.

The ladder is raised into position by means of two toothed flangeddisks, L, which catch over the rounds of the ladder and raise it upwardwhen the disks are made to revolve. These disks form a part of or aresecured in any suitable manner to suitable sleeves, 0?, which fit uponthe right and left screw-threads of the rod M, which is secured rigidlyat its ends to the support D. To the outer ends of the collars orsleeves 0 which are placed upon this screw-rod, arethe gear-wheels O,which mesh with the wide pinions P. These pinions are placed uponshafts, which are journaled in the support, and which are provided withcranks upon each of their ends. When these two shafts, or either one,are made to revolve, motion is communicated to both the gear and toothedwheels, and the sleeves then move in or out upon the screw-rod,according to the directionin which the pinions are turned. As one of thethreads upon the rod runs to the right and the other to the left, onegear and One toothed wheel move in one direction.

while the other gear and other toothed wheel move in the opposite one.This reverse move- 'ment is given to these parts for the purpose ofmaking the toothed wheels accommodate themselves to the various widthsof the sections which form the ladder. The upper end of the ladder beingquite narrow, thetoothed wheels, when the ladder is wound upon its reel,will be quite close together; but as the ladderis forced upward thetoothed wheels are gradually carried outward, so as to correspond to theincreasing width of the ladder. As the gear-wheels move with the toothedwheels,the

pinio'ns are made of a width eorrespondin g to the amount of movementwhich is given to the gearwheels. These gear-wheels will be placedeither inside or outside of the support, as may be preferred, as I donot limit myself to the precise] location here shown. The toothed wheelswill have the teeth in them so formed as to catch over the rounds of theladder, and when the wheels are turned in one direction will lift thesections of the ladder upward, and when turned in the opposite directionwill force the ladder downward, so that it will be wrapped upon itsreel. I I

In; order to prevent the ladder from becoming loose upon its reel,suitable cords, wires, or chains, Q, are fastened to the front end ofthe truck, and then extend backward underneath the reel, and arefastened at their rear ends to a shaft, It, that is placed upon theframe. This shaft is provided with a pawl andratchet, so as to hold thecords or chains at any tension at which they may be turned. these cords,wires, or chains bear against the under side of the ladder whentightened by the shaft, it will be readily seen that the ladder isclamped tightly against the reel, so that it cannot work loose norrattle, so as to make an unpleasant noise.

The support D, which is pivoted to the frame at its rear end, and whichforms the bearing for the pulleys and other parts of the machine, hastoothed slots made down through its legs T, and meshing with the teethof these slots are pinions, which are placed upon a shaft, U, whicheitends across the frame. This shaftisprovided with a pawl andratchet,and isthu's heldat any point to which it may be adjusted. Byturning this shaft the support is raised or lowered, so as to adjust theinclination of the ladder according as the house is a tall or a low one,or the purpose for which the ladder is being used.

Upon the front end of the support, just in the rear oftheguiding-pulley,and under which the chain passes, are two spools ordrums, W, journaled upon the same shaft. These spools are both placedloosely upon the shaft, and each has a separate and independent ropewrapped around it. Each spool has a ratchet, X, formed on its outer end,theteethof which run in opposite directions, and with each of which apawl, Y, engages. These pawls are secured to the frame, and serve toprevent one spool from turning back when the other spool is beingoperated.

Secured to the center of the shaft on which the two spools are placedare two ratchets, Z,

the teeth of which are turned in opposite directio'ns, and with whichengage the two pawls 2, which have their outer ends formed into leverswhich extend outward, so that they can be operated by hand. When one orboth cranks 3 are turned in one direction, one of the spools is turned,and when the motion of the shaft is reversed the other spool is turned.When it is desired that either one of the spools shall not operate,itspawl is thrown out of gear,

One ofthe spools has a rope or chain wrapped around it for the purposeof raising the elevator, and the other one has a similar rope or chainwrapped around it to be used for lowering objects from the building, andthese two ropes or chains may move in opposite directions. While one isbeing wound upon its spool the other is being unwound. These ropes passbackward to the base of the ladder under suit IOO able pulleys, andthence up tothe top of the ladder over pulleys on the top round. The onethat operates the elevator passes down and is fastened to the slide thatmoves upon the front of the ladder, as shown and described in my formerpatent. To this slide is suspended the elevator by means of suitableropes, and in order to enable the elevator to be raised and lowered by aperson or persons in it, the elevator is provided with a crankshaft, 4,which is provided with one or more spools, 5. By operating thiscrank-shaft 4, which should be provided with suitable ratchets, theelevator can be raised and lowered along the front of the building atwill.

The rope which passes around the other IIO spool, is intended to be usedfor lowering ob= jects from a burning building, in connection with aderrick, 6, which is to be placed in a window on the opposite side ofthehouse or on the same side. This derrick 6 is provided with suitablehooks,7.to catch over the window-sill,

and with a pulley,8, at its top, over which the rope passes. Thisderrick having been placed in position in a window, articles of allkinds can be lowered to the ground by operating the spool Waslong as itis safe to do so, and then the operator can descend upon either theladder in the elevator, or by the rope which passes over the derrick.Should the heat be come too great to work the fire-escape with theladder up to the wall, the ladder can be raised into a vertical positionand the rope operate just as well with the upper end of the ladder at adistance from the wall.

If so desired,the rope connected to the elevator may be disconnectedtherefrom and used to lower articles down the front of the building, andthen the two ropes may be made to operate in connection, one uponthefront and the other upon the rear of the building, the two ropes alwaysmoving in opposite directions, so as to have them operate one at a time,and thus never have such heavy loads that the persons turning the crankson the spool-shaft cannot manage them.

It will be seen that when the support is raised up so that the ladder isresting against the building the cranks on the spool-shaft will be sohigh they cannot be reached from the footboard, so there will be afoot-board on each side secured directly to the support, on which theoperator can stand, and these boards of w course rise and fall with thesupport.

By forming flanges on both sides of the two elevating-wheels the flangesbear against the sections of the ladders, and thus braceand strengthenthem while being raised into position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a fire-escape, thecombination of the reel upon which the ladder is wound, the jointedtapering ladder, toothed elevatingwheels L, which catch over the roundsof the ladder, the p'inious P, spur-wheels O, and the screw-shaft uponwhich the wheels 0 L are placed, and the connecting-sleeves,substantially as shown.

2. In ,a fire-escape, the combination of the reel upon which the ladderis wound, the jointed tapering ladder, the spur-wheels O andoperating-pinious P, the elevating-wheels L. which catch over the roundsof the ladder, the screwshaft provided with right and left threads, andthe sleeves 0 substantially as shown.

3. In a fire-escape, the combination of the reel, the ladder, and thechain F, with the two reels W and their ratchets and pawls. and theropes which extend therefrom, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID SHELDON THOMAS. Witnesses:

E. M. DAY,

BLAKESLY.

